Revealing the differences in the SMBH accretion rate distributions of starburst and non-starburst galaxies

ABSTRACT We infer and compare the specific X-ray luminosity distributions for a sample of massive (i.e. log10(M*/M⊙) > 10.5) galaxies split according to their far-infrared-derived star-forming properties (i.e. starburst and non-starburst) and redshift. We model each distribution as a power law wi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2019-08, Vol.487 (3), p.4071-4082
Main Authors: Grimmett, L P, Mullaney, J R, Jin, S, Bernhard, E, Daddi, E, Walters, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT We infer and compare the specific X-ray luminosity distributions for a sample of massive (i.e. log10(M*/M⊙) > 10.5) galaxies split according to their far-infrared-derived star-forming properties (i.e. starburst and non-starburst) and redshift. We model each distribution as a power law with an upper and lower turnover, and adopt a maximum likelihood method to include information from non-detections in the form of upper limits. When we use our inferred distributions to calculate the ratios of high to low sLX active galactic nuclei (AGNs; corresponding to above and below 0.1λEdd, respectively), we find that starbursts have significantly higher proportions of high sLX AGNs compared to their non-starburst counterparts. These findings help explain the increase in average X-ray luminosity in bins of increasing star formation rates reported by previous studies.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stz1558